Playing Thomas ... Doubting or Saint

This morning I woke up to a cloudy day, and soon the rains came -- perhaps to wash away all the sins of the earth committed by its two-legged inhabitants. Or perhaps the plants need H2O urgently to survive, and also quench the ASingaporeans praying always for rain so that their water supply never runs dry.

Whatever, water in the right quantity and the right time and in the right hands serves a benevolent function -- H2O gives LIFE.

So also with another thing humans call MONEY. BTW -- so Desi has mastered some blogging shorts, By The Way, some people add an "ass" after "y", I don't know why ...
Thou shalt not ask...
As I was saying before I was rudely intercepted (not you-lah,my ER, 'tis the waiter at the BF table, not CON-one!), 'Water' in Chinese/Kantonis sounds thus "sui", similar to the word for 'Money'.

In the right hands, Money -- like water -- is a creator, in the wrong hands, it is a destroyer.

Playing Thomas today, this scribe is still absorbed in his 'ollywood script, hence he won't hold opinions of the "nuggets" this AM, only questions. I believe my ER have exquisite minds after all thhe lavish food and entertainment most of them beget this Yuletide.

I am going against the grain of my less than esteemed nation's leaders' advice -- Yours is not to question why.

You have voted us into power, Let's do the job -- Have faith in our ability to govern.

Q: YEAH?

Let me give you three doses of woe on this dour and dark WedNURSEday morn~~~

from the New Straits Times, Dec 27, 2005:

Mental health tests for workers


PUTRAJAYA, Mon: Starting next year, workers in the public and private sectors will have to undergo psychiatric tests at least once a year.
They must also take blood and urine tests. "Whether they like it or not, they need to take the tests," Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar said today.

He said officials of his ministry would help employers and heads of government departments conduct the tests.

Rahman said the psychiatric tests would identity workers suffering from depression or "burnout", which could affect their productivity and state of mind.

The move, he added, would help enhance professionalism and services in both sectors.

He told the New Straits Times that those who had undergone the tests would be issued a health card.

"With the card, their employers will know what to do in cases where employees need help, like referring them to doctors and specialists for observation or treatment.

"It is vital that employers and heads of department do not take for granted the health of their workers by merely looking at their physical condition.

"From blood and urine tests, we will know the number of workers suffering from mental disorders, HIV/ AIDS, drug and alcohol addiction, and other ailments."

Rahman said safety and health committees must be formed at all workplaces to ensure the tests were conducted properly.

Employers who fail to abide by the requirement may be charged under the Employment Act 1955, which carries a fine of RM50,000 or two years’ jail, or both.

Yeah Question:
Does the Minister know whether the country have enough doctors to serve the people adequately? From the statitsitcs that had been quoted by Ministry officials to date, the country's doctors-to-people ratio is far, far below par comapred with other countries.

So now where is Malaysia going to get the psychiatrists required? As it is, there are so few in numbers to perform even basic duties, what more the function of doing annual testings? Yeah, I hear some murmurings of Timbuktwo...

From The Star, frontpage today:

Protion sells stake
in Agusta for one euro

PETALING JAYA: Proton Holdings has sold its 57.7% stake
in MV Agusta SpA, an Italian motorcycle manufacturer,
for one euro (RM4.48).

The national car company announced to Bursa Malaysia yesterday that
it had entered into an agreement to sell the Agusta stake to Gevi SpA.

An Italian investment holding company, Gevi, will assume
Agusta’s “restructured frozen debts”, which amounted to
106.9mil euro (RM478mil). Agusta is mainly known for its racing motorcycles.

The sale of Agusta will not have any effect on
Proton’s earnings this year as the latter had earlier completely written
off the investment.

Proton paid 70mil euro (RM313mil) for the Agusta stake in December 2004.

The disposal will free Proton from having to manage Agusta and
enable the management to focus on the manufacture and marketing of cars.

Proton said in its announcement that he sale was consistent with
its direction of divesting non-core assets.

Yeah Q:After one year, the Proton management suddenlt wakes up and realises the FACT that "manufacture of motor-cycles" is NOT a core business?

RM313million lesson to teach you that?

Yeah, I haer some undergraduates murmuring that the issue here is NOT whether motorcycle fits in with car-manufacturing but whether due diligence was properly carried out before Proton ventured into the investment, or it smelt like someone has taken our national car maker for a quick and expensive ride!

And lastly, also lustily, a Foreign Minister has found time to oversee a "fracas", assuring Malaysian citizens it's a "one-off" incident. Dammmmn Soooo Ass-ssssuring!

From The Star, page 16:

Fracas at MAYC a one-off incident

PUTRAJAYA: The fracas at the Malaysian Association of Youth Councils (MAYC) general assembly was a one-off incident and has not prevented it from carrying out its “transition plans”, said president Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
He also denied the existence of rival camps in the association, saying that the incident was perpetrated by “two or three unhappy people who came to the meeting with the intention of wanting to pressure me to stop the meeting”.

It was reported the fracas at the MAYC meeting was a result of a power struggle between two factions vying to control the body, which is the country’s umbrella youth organisation.

Chairs were broken and fistfights broke out when one faction tried to suspend the meeting on Sunday after their nominations for the body’s national office-bearers were declared null and void.

Syed Hamid said the small group of people who had caused the fracas were no longer MAYC members as they had surpassed the 50-year age limit. He said they had come to the meeting with plans to adjourn it.

“When that failed, they resorted to Plan B, which was to create chaos,” he said yesterday.

He said it was important for the MAYC to leave the incident behind and move forward with its agenda for a takeover.

“I am pleased the incident did not affect the almost 400 members who clearly wanted the meeting to continue,” he said.

“In fact, the fracas took place for only five minutes or so and after that, the situation returned to normal. The rest stayed on and the meeting went on smoothly till the end, including the elections.

“Several representatives who spoke during the general assembly had expressed shame over the incident, saying this was certainly not the culture of youth groups and they hope this will not recur and tarnish the image of MAYC.”

Syed Hamid, who is Foreign Minister, has been MAYC president since 2000. He was returned unopposed in the Sunday elections while Ahmad Zaini Jaafar was elected deputy president. Nine new faces were elected to the 15-member MAYC central committee.

Yeah Q: How does a Foreign Minister find time to "preside" over a Youth Organisation?
Is "he" still under the age of 50? Oh, I hear some of my ER murmur: for cabibet members, some rukles don't apply!

Final Yeah Q: Does Pak Lah does where his priorities -- and those of his teamsters -- lie?
Okay, one LUST Yeah Q for old times' sake, since 2005 is running out:
Or shalt we unquestioning Malaysians continue with LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE?